People experiencing homelessness describe experiencing discrimination from landlords, employers, and in their daily routines. LD 1871 helps them document those discriminatory acts with the Maine Human Rights Commission to formally lodge discrimination complaints. This bill extends the original Dignity Pilot, a program to document discrimination against people who are unhoused, by two years. The hearing for this legislation is on Tuesday, January 25 at 1pm. Please join us in submitting written or oral testimony (instructions below) in support of this bill! 

LD 1871: Resolve, Directing the Maine Human Rights Commission To Extend Its Pilot Program To Investigate and Report on Incidents of Harassment Due to Housing Status, Lack of Employment and Other Issues would extend LD 1294’s original mandate for an additional two years to conduct a Dignity Pilot program receiving and reporting on how people experiencing homelessness are discriminated against in the state of Maine.

The Discrimination Based on Homelessness Pilot Project ― a Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) program ― collects complaints about an array of discrimination that occurs based on an individual’s housing status. This project is a result of Homeless Voices for Justice’s (HVJ) advocacy to ensure that people experiencing homelessness are not discriminated against in the state of Maine.

There is an urgent need for a two year extension for this pilot project because:

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a challenge for people navigating both the pandemic and homelessness to file a complaint either online or in paper form
• The original MHRC intake form did not include a space where someone could indicate that the reported discrimination was based on homelessness/housing status. We’ve been in contact with MHRC to make that adjustment to the intake form and ensure that filing a complaint is a transparent, streamlined, and accessible process.

How to testify on Zoom:

• Click this link and select “Public hearing”
• Choose a committee –> “Judiciary”
• Choose date –> “January 25, 2022, 1:00 PM”
• Choose bill –> “LD 1871 – Resolve, Directing the Maine Human Rights Commission To Extend Its Pilot Program To Investigate and Report on Incidents of Harassment Due to Housing Status, Lack of Employment and Other Issues”
• Choose “I’d like to present my testimony live” and select “I am for the proposed legislation”
• Upload your testimony, fill out the contact information, and click “Submit/Register”!
• You will then receive a confirmation email that the testimony has been received as well as a Zoom link for Tuesday’s hearing

How to submit written testimony:

• Follow steps 1-4 above
• Upload your testimony, fill out the contact information, and click “Submit/Register”!
• You will then receive a confirmation email that the testimony has been received

For questions or concerns, please contact Izzy Ostrowski at iostrowski@preblestreet.org or 207-899-8307.